It is not a well-kept secret that I was a bit enamored with Saosin’s debut LP. The timing of that record and the execution of it seemed damn near perfect at the time. The stars just kind of aligned for that release, and Saosin has been riding the wave ever since. And going back to listen to that self-titled gem now, I still stand by everything I said – the combination of soaring vocals, upper echelon musicianship, and flawless production made for a work deserving of its transcendence beyond the post-hardcore roots that spawned it. So here we are, three years later – has the band used its accomplishments and notoriety as a launchpad to create another killer record? Or is their sophomore effort a perfunctory exercise in simply going through the motions?

There have been few inaugural full-length releases in the recent modern rock mire that could be considered anywhere near as “make or break” as Saosin’s self-titled Capitol Records debut. While it is largely indisputable that the band’s game-changing breakout EP, Translating the Name, was a high water mark in its own right, it had the benefit of making impressions without the complication of prior expectations and the proverbial “hype.” However, with the passage of time, the residual fame from that release has begun to wear thin after three long, empty years. A crappy (though supposedly wrongly-released) EP two years later did little to reinforce fence fans’ confidences, but a bevy of high-profile tours and festival appearances have kept the bottom from falling out on Saosin, despite the defection of one of the scene’s most prolific frontmen, and other lineup changes from the white EP’s revered roster.